friday findings: BANANAS

I listened to a great story on NPR's Fresh Air today. "Bananas: The Uncertain Future Of A Favorite Fruit" 

Opened my eyes about bananas, among other things. I've always had a thing for the fruit, from eating it to it's use visually. When I was a freshman in high school I had this love of Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground & Nico. I had a poster of the album cover on my wall. I did an art piece in tenth grade with all the members of the band coming out of banana peels. Yeah, the list continues...

[source: left, right]

Chiquita issued some postcards back in the day to try and show that it wasn't inappropriate and gross to enjoy your bananas in public. [source]

I like to make myself drool. So I found these things I want to make and eat, mostly eat:

Smitten Kitchen: caramel walnut upside down cake | 101 Cookbooks: Banana Chip Cookies

And a final lesson in badass accessorizing with Josephine Baker (gave a report on her en français in high school--again, bananas) and WAH Nails. 

drools (daily)

Hey! July! Days off! Sunshine!

Spent some nice down time finding delightful things:

[illustrations/fabric/clothing: wonderful! Leah Reena Goren]

[relatable/adorable: Hailee Steinfeld for Miu Miu Fall/Winter 2011 by Bruce Weber]

[favorite phrase/creative Baltimore adoration: Adam J. Kurtz]

[awww, my dad posted a picture of my birth place: yes, I was born in this apartment.]

chooses shoes(es)

The other night I was getting ready to go out. It was a bit chilly.

Wouldn't it be nice to have some kind of moccasin-type of shoes? Cosy

like a slipper. Then, I look in this basket of my grandmother's old clothes

and I find this brown pair of Minnetonka moccasins. My mom thinks they

might have been hers as a kid.

I'm fascinated by avant-garde shoes, too. The shoe really is an art object.

That would be an art history class I could get into!

Minimarket. Cut-out Lace Up. Hybrid delights!

As always, Maira Kalman is brilliant and wonderful and tells me things

I'd want to know.

Shoes in Shoes: makes me want to get wacky. "Shoe layering is a

cross-seasonal option for style hybrids and a simple method for shoe size

reassignment. Whether it's loafers in sandals or heels in boots, we say if

the shoe in shoe fits, wear it."

via dismagazine.com

I did an art piece with (almost) all my shoes. I tagged them with named

"memories."

Long story short, I could look at/talk about/drool over shoes for days.

feels the sun/shops

[Free People Pierre Top; Dolce Vita Jacquie Lalo Clog]

bought at Urban Thread in Gainesville, so everything was at least half of it's original price--happy!

Pause on the bike. Sunset delight.

[Gap Pima sheer yoke striped T: ten dolla!]

[Gap Burnout tank in "jade stone"]

Seems like the heat is making my family fashion frenzied. More than once

this week I have accompanied my folks to the mall. The first two times I

browsed. I looked around, I tried things on, I negotiated in my head, I was good and didn't even open my wallet. But there were a couple things that stayed in my head as the days passed. Those shoes, that swimsuit... "oh, but I've been saving! oh, but I've bought hardly anything in the past months but groceries.."

So today it happened and I treated myself. And then my mom's enthusiasm for the soft textures of the tops at the Gap pulled me a little more. That, along with the super sale. Bargains! If you learn one thing about me today it is that I love a bargain, a sale, a deal. I'd say 85% of the shoes I own were under ten dollars. And probably that same amount of my clothing was first worn by someone else. Maybe even more...

As far as that last cluster of photos go: Wednesday Downtown Farmer's Market now has this "Pop Shop." Delicious homemade popsicles. I got the peach grapefruit and my mom got orange basil. Hers definitely won in best tasting.

Flashy Smartcar--this is the temporary trade when my mom brought in her car

to be fixed.

Hot nights and hunger = leftover salads and amazingly delicious sandwiches.